That question is once again at the center of the country’s public discourse amid the violent protests that followed last week’s brutal killing of a German man, allegedly at the hands of two Muslim refugees, and the publication of a new book titled “Hostile Takeover, how Islam halts progress and threatens society.”

On Saturday, about 11,000 people (8,000 right-wing and far-right protesters and about 3,000 anti-Nazis, according to police estimates) took to the streets of the eastern German city of Chemnitz, where the killing occurred. Eighteen people were injured, including a TV reporter who was thrown down a flight of stairs.

There’s nothing new about such clashes, or even the debate over Islam. What the past week reveals, however, is the degree to which the refugee influx since 2015 continues to dominate the country’s politics and fuel support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). The pictures of marauding neo-Nazis in Chemnitz suggest the German government has largely failed to keep the violent extreme right in check, despite decades of trying.

By all rights, Germany should be celebrating a golden era. Unemployment is the lowest it’s been since reunification amid robust economic growth. The country’s public debt is on course to fall below 60 percent of gross domestic product this year, meaning Berlin will fulfill the Maastricht criteria for the first time in almost 20 years.

About 170,000 migrants enjoy “tolerated” status in Germany. A further 350,000 reside in the country with no official immigration status at all.

Despite Germany’s growing prosperity, its society is seething as the negative consequences of taking in more than 1 million asylum seekers since 2015 sink in. “Who should be allowed in?” asked Der Spiegel on its cover last week. This week’s cover, devoted to Saxony, the state where the violence occurred, reads: “When the right grabs power.”

Thilo Sarrazin, the former Bundesbank official and provocateur who wrote “Hostile Takeover,” has tapped into Germany’s unease about the refugee influx with a dystopian prediction of what lies ahead.

Describing Islam as “an ideology of violence disguised as religion,” Sarrazin argues that if Europe doesn’t take swift action to halt Muslim migration into the EU, European society will ultimately be enveloped and destroyed by Islam.

“Hostile Takeover” debuted last week at No. 1 on German Amazon’s bestseller list.

Supporters of the Seebruecke (sea bridge) movement pile up life vests during a demonstration in Berlin on September 2, 2018 | Kay Nietfeld/AFP via Getty Images

Germany’s political establishment, meanwhile, has taken to the airwaves, in what might best be described as ritualistic soul-searching.

“For far too long, we didn’t recognize the dimension of the problem or weren’t willing to,” Marco Wanderwitz, a state secretary in the interior ministry, said on public television.

Though Wanderwitz was referring to the outbreak of right-wing violence, many in the country would argue the same is true for the government’s handling of the refugee question.

Tolerance

While Germany remains an extremely safe country by international standards (there were roughly as many homicides in all of Germany last year, 731, as in Chicago), a raft of high-profile, violent crimes committed by refugees is unsettling the nation.

In June, the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl, allegedly at the hands of an Iraqi asylum seeker, enraged the nation. That case followed the fatal stabbing of a 15-year-old in broad daylight at a drug store in southwestern Germany in December. This time, the suspected killer was an Afghan.

Last year, refugees were suspects in about 15 percent of homicides in Germany, according to official statistics, though they account for only 2 percent of the population.

The issue of refugee crime has been a boon for the AfD.

Many of the suspects, including the Iraqi accused of stabbing the Chemnitz victim and the terrorist who drove into a Berlin Christmas market in 2016, enjoy an immigration status classified as a Duldung, or “tolerance.” That means that even though the individual’s asylum application has been denied, the government is allowing the person to remain in Germany and in many cases seek employment. The reasons for such a ruling vary, but can be as mundane as a lack of a passport, making it difficult to confirm the migrant’s nationality.

About 170,000 migrants enjoy “tolerated” status in Germany. A further 350,000 reside in the country with no official immigration status at all, many of them waiting for a ruling on an asylum application.

Critics say the presence of so many migrants without a bona fide legal right to remain in the country proves that Germany’s asylum system is a sham. History suggests that a denied asylum application presents little more than minor delay to a migrant’s quest to acquire legal immigration status in Germany. About 233,000 people whose asylum applications were rejected are currently in the country. All but 60,000 of them enjoy “tolerated” status.

Angela Merkel’s government has largely avoided addressing such concerns in public, mainly because there are no easy answers.

Under Germany’s federal structure, its 16 regional states are responsible for deporting migrants. Last year, they carried out about 24,000 deportations, far fewer than the potential pool. The problem is that if a migrant doesn’t agree to leave the country, the cost of removing him or her can be prohibitive due to the extra security involved.

Considering the large number of refugees and that most of them are young men, it’s inevitable that some of them will commit crimes.

Yet with the rise of the anti-immigrant AfD, such arguments generally get drowned out.

The issue of refugee crime has been a boon for the AfD. In Saxony, the party is closing in on Merkel’s Christian Democrats ahead of next year’s state election. The AfD’s poll numbers are strong across the rest of the eastern half of the country as well.

Establishment politicians have tried to dismiss that strength as an eastern phenomenon, the result of the region’s failure to face its Nazi past after the war. They point to the long history of violence against migrants in the region, including the torching of a refugee shelter in Rostock in 1992 and the murder spree by the NSU, an underground neo-Nazi group that killed 10 people.

While there’s something to such arguments, the resonance of Sarrazin’s latest book suggests unease over refugees extends far beyond the borders of former East Germany.

Amid the neo-Nazi attacks in Chemnitz, Merkel’s coalition has succeeded in steering the debate away from refugee violence to the dangers of the extreme right. For now. If the last few months are any indication, that tactic won’t work for long.

Related stories on these topics:

Tom Cullem

Yes, keep changing the subject – after all, it’s worked so well, hasn’t it? No one has really noticed the disappearance of their cultures, the sandbags and cement barriers around the Christmas markets . . . the double standards, the conflicting messages . . .

No one will notice if you just keep pointing to the far right, and forget that it was you who gave them a leg up by inviting in millions of people who didn’t share the national culture and were only there for the money and wanted the host culture to adapt to them rather than the other way around because your own were too tired and too lazy and too self-indulgent to have larger families and you brought in the cheap labour and figured it would all come out in the wash someday . . .

And now it is coming out in the wash. Only not the way you supposed.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 3:35 AM CET

Tommy Gee

I was in Europe 2 years ago and started reading politico.eu since I was redirected there at the time. Every time I check it is the same thing – either friction caused by people opposing open borders, or occasionally a problem directly caused by mass immigration. It is all you talk about. And to what end? What problem did you have 10 years ago that made you wake up and exclaim “We really need 10 million muslims running around here to get things back in order”? Because someone is solving a problem through mass immigration, and if you don’t know what the problem is, you are probably it.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 6:23 AM CET

contango one

its time AfD and others take Merkel to task in parlament n in the public airwaves

its time that violence and crime perpetrated by moslem migrants most of them illegally there, as per the above article, because a matter of national debate at the highest level

Germans: take Merkel to task; demand that she stops avoiding the issue.
demand that she gives answers; insist that she answers your questions
start with the most obvious one: why migrants whose applications are denied are still in germany
don’t settle for half ass answers about lack of passport and otherwise assorted bs

demand that she gives an answer why SHE does NOT uphold the law
don’t let her off the hook n don’t her her evade

Posted on 9/3/18 | 7:18 AM CET

contango one

@ Tommy Gee

hey Tommy; quit the day time drinking
or wait till clock hits 12 noon at least

Posted on 9/3/18 | 7:21 AM CET

Juha Hämäläinen

People are mislead by European politicians to believe we must accept mass immigration as an unevitable fact of life. This is of course totally false and a manipulated view on reality. We do not need to accept and welcome incoming crowds. We can close the borders and this is exactly what most Europeans require silently, or as we are now seeing, require loudly or even violently.

There is no such human right as free movement from country to country based on immigrants own decision.

Less developed countries must take responsibility of managing their homelands better. It all starts from effective birth control. Overpopulation is the root cayse for most all problems in less developed countries. It is totally useless to send humanitarian help to countries that do not effectively work on population growth.

EU countries will not be the social support offices for Africans and Asians who try to walk in EU without invitation. This responsibility belongs to countries that cause crisis in many countries by providing weapons to them, by changing their governnents or by attacking them. You can easily list these manipulating countries yourselves. These are the countries that should welcome refugees and cover the costs of their foreign politics.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 8:03 AM CET

R. Ben Madison

It is embarrassing how Americans, and especially Trump Fascists, confuse and conflate “immigration” in Europe and “immigration” in the USA. By and large the population groups entering each society are totally different; immigrants to the USA are mostly Indo-European (mostly Spanish) speaking Christians, while immigrants to Europe are mostly Muslims from a complex variety of linguistic backgrounds.

Only a deliberately foolish person would be incapable of seeing why these two kinds of immigration shouldn’t be treated alike.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 8:13 AM CET

maciek maciek

The proper question is whether Germany can survive the rule of marxist politicians led by commie-in-disguise Merkel.

Walter E. Kurtz

LaVonne Swyter

IMO, calling this a Muslim problem is too simplistic. What countries did the perps come from? Weren’t most Syrians who left that country rebels or others fleeing Assad?

Posted on 9/3/18 | 10:54 AM CET

Henk Crop

@ Juha H.. Well put. When you also consider that the world population grows by 83 million per year. Of those 80 million people in developing countries. When you keep the borders open the immigration will never stop.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 12:00 PM CET

Hans Snood

“Last year, refugees were suspects in about 15 percent of homicides in Germany, according to official statistics, though they account for only 2 percent of the population.”

The statistic is misleading. The vast majority of the refugees are young men between 17 and 25 and comparing to their age group they commit the same number of homicides like Germans. And most of their victims are other refugees, not Germans. Single cases like in Chemnitz (the victim there was Cuban-German) shouldn’t be generalized.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 12:09 PM CET

Henk Crop

@ Walter Kurz. ” Germans voted for wir schaffen dass by reelecting Merkel.”
Yes, but the TV networks are controlled by the Government. The authorities are Political Correct.
My estimate is that on this issue Germans are 30 years behind other countries.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 12:10 PM CET

Hans Snood

Another problem in that statistic is, that “suspect” istn’t always the real thing. Refugees are more often suspects, because some people want to blame everything on them. After the judgements the numbers are down.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 12:16 PM CET

Arnold Nussbaum

” .. there are no easy answers.”
Of course there are. Strict border controls; Australia is a shining example of what you can achieve if the POLITICAL WILL is there.
That Ms Merkel points a finger to the so-called Right Wing is no surprise, her sympathies and allegiance lie to the Left and Far Left.
Mr Maas, another one of those incredibly arrogant semi-literates, bemoans the easy attitude of citizens with a perceived Right Wing threat. Unfortunatelz he had the opposite view when the Utra-Left terrorized Hamburg during G20.
I also have a very easy-going attitude these days; when at night I see five darkish looking gentlemen coming my way I change the street side.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 12:17 PM CET

Henk Crop

Merkel not only follows a foolish and unsustainable immigration policy.
I now read that in Germany they have 520.000 immigrants without adequate papers roaming about the country.
She also fails to deport the illegal immigrants.

Evidently her Government has lost control over the entire immigration issue.
Blaming the AfD are false and misleading tactics.

The Berlin politicians should be ashamed about their own Government.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 12:35 PM CET

Roh Land

I think that in the end what is really at the root of the problems in Europe and the West in general is that there is a section of society , call it the left call it the elite, who thoroughly hate and despise Western civilization and European peoples in general. The reason these people vote for governments that allow in such hostile foreigners is because they literally hate Germans, British, Dutch, Americans etc. and they feel these peoples and cultures should be replaced with a in their eyes superior peoples and culture. You see this in the way they cannot imagine that Germans are victims of these foreigners. A German , a white man , is for them by definition a oppressor and a Nazi or worse. It’s very much a civil rights issue. Like I read right now on Deutsche Welle that there were protests by various church groups and one of the pastors completely inverted reality by saying if Africans and Arabs are not allowed into Germany in unlimited numbers barbarism will arise. A complete reversal of what is actually happening. The barbarism is coming from the foreigners coming to Germany and imposing their culture on native Germans murdering people and raping them that is causing the reactions to happen. Now if we cannot agree that Western civilization is the best way to live and Germans , Americans etc are fully deserving of their peaceful and prosperous societies that they themselves built. Then to talk about anything else is pointless.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 12:58 PM CET

Joanna Motheroff-Angels

Isl@m must be stopped on the Oder. For every price (even if it means the EU will disappear)
Only then we will be able to initiate reconquista.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 1:07 PM CET

Walter Stallburg

So, the integrations program is going quite well then apart from the difficulty of how to control Islam.
Mother always knows best and Father is a real loser.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 1:16 PM CET

Rami Haddad

This title is absolutely outrageous. To blame the faith of Islam for the crimes of the less than 0.1% of refugees in Germany is highly bigoted. Has Politico morphed into Breitbart? Should we blame the faith of Christianity whenever a Christian commits murder?

Posted on 9/3/18 | 1:20 PM CET

Stählerne Romantik

As if this was only a German problem and not an (Western) European one.

Because Islam works so well in France, UK, Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, right?

The minute we get rid of the hostile elites that rule Western Europe, problem solved.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 1:21 PM CET

GE0RG1 G10RG1

and all others run away to support her or take responsibility of reckless investments and loans she is so confused and greedy that may expect even I to pay them. Check Target 2 data these days for last month as I describe, I suppose they may be cheated by ECB fear of happening deposit run. Deposits leaving EU banks , rationing is coming in EU. USA may steal them ,so diversify. See how EUR declines 20 % close to currency crisis 25 % and ECB bluffs with interventions these days. Catalonia banks move their headquarters and may very soon impose deposit rationing. Then all EU will expect deposit rationing for them and deposits will leave. Bundesbank’s TARGET2 claims increase a lot to some 0.91 trillions at end 2017 according to monthly updated by them website where you can also see time series as Germany should not be able to provide much more means for mainly Spain , Italy but also Portugal , Greece banks in trouble to cover for their non reversible process of leaving deposits you may find on line. There will be soon deposit rationing in EU as the ECB bluff for growth and election changes in France , Germany does not work. . . . Require deposit rationing from Draghi as his friends will try to take complete deposits out and the loss ey move deposits ..See low prices of banks in EU as proof for trillions of assets. Main loss is coming from bad loans in eastern Europe some of the greatest in the world and bad prospects for growth in EU due to high government debts and wage rigidities. Follow Austrian banks telecoms as EU tries to sell lemons first. Greek banks are bankrupted with assets in Eastern Europe , Austrian banks work in the same region and their banks and telecoms data may be cheated . Follow also for illegal activities as money washing Austrian banks and telecoms. Follow EBRD condition , competence and fund mismanagement as well as all funds that cover eu sovereign bonds. Yellena may steal EU deposits. Ask them until when they will endanger the health of my family for the facts I reveal that endangers their financial markets forever. My family was moderately poisoned these days to scare me not to write here. I DO NOT HAVE COPY RIGHTS SO DISTRIBUTE IN EU ON LINE EDITIONS CAREFULLY.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 1:24 PM CET

peter lintner

Islam is not just Germany´s problem, it´s the whole Europe´s problem. Europe has done lots of mistakes in past, but bringing in muslims on mass scale is by far the worst. The consequences will be with us for centuries to come. I dont want to criticise islam as such, it´s upon everyone to decide whether he likes the religion or not. The main problem is that islam and western civilisation are simply incompatible. Western civilisation has always been about questioning, challenging, asking questions and then try to find answers. That´s why democracy and scientific/technological revolutions are western inventions, both are esentially questioning of the existing order in either politics or science and then trying to improve them. Islam is the exact opposite. The very word islam doesnt mean peace, as some suggest, it means submit. You submit your will, your thinking your whole life to Allah. Challenging, questioning is not allowed. You must blindly follow the Quran. That´s why majority of muslim countries are authoritarian and why there is virtually no technological progress in muslim world. Questioning, challenging is not allowed. That´s why any talk about moderate islam is nonsense. Moderate muslims are esentially non-violent muslims, but their basic line of thinking is same as that of radical muslims, society that they build will have the same rigid, regressive characteristics as that of radicals, because as muslims they must preserve the basic non-questioning, non-challenging pattern. Have you ever seen moderate muslim criticising Quran? That´s not allowed. So these two basic lines of thinking, western vs muslim, will allways clash if they mix together. Therefore I agree with the book, Europe has to instantly and immediately stop any muslim immigration or Europe will face grave problems in the future. Because if the mass immigration continues Europe will enter a new era of instability and violence that may last for centuries to come.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 1:46 PM CET

florin silberman

@R. Ben Madison,
It is unfortunate that a well reasoned post starts so badly.
Your first sentence: It is embarrassing how Americans, and especially Trump Fascists, confuse and conflate “immigration” in Europe and “immigration” in the USA.. Is pure bad faith because if you are a Hillary die hard the ones with opposing views are not fascists. Is it NPR or The New York Times who indoctrinates you??
There are many people however who do not understand the difference between the Latinos (mostly) coming to the US and the religious majority invading Europe. Actually the fascist president wanted to restrict immigration into the US by stopping those coming from certain majority Moslem countries and not from South of the border. The great upheaval with illegals coming across the Rio Grande is quite a different issue. And it was not Latinos who did 9/11.
Of course the two migration currents are different. The Cental and South Americans coming to the US are simply seeking to share the American dream, buy a big troca (truck in Mexam), buy a house and have their kids play baseball. What sets them apart is the fact that they have no evil or destructive impulses against the US. Their religion is not cruel and unforgiving. They are quite ready to marry the “locals”, they respect women and do not intend to convert anyone. Given the choice, they have the dignity of having a job rather than taking advantage of the Social Security Administration. If you know Europe, the disaster they brought upon themselves (by their own politicians) will eventually destroy them.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 3:40 PM CET

florin silberman

@ maciek square,
You can’t forget your times in Eastern Europe. Lenin and Stalin are long gone. While you are absolutely right regarding the German (and European) self anihilation, that comes more from mosques than from The Capital.
Join your modern times. World war II and Soviet occupation is finished.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 3:48 PM CET

florin silberman

@LaVonne Swyter,
It is a Muslim problem; the vast majority of Syrians are Muslims and they have cut a lot of Christians heads meantime

Posted on 9/3/18 | 3:52 PM CET

Roh Land

@Rami Haddad

Would you maintain this idea when it comes to Nazi crimes during WW2 ? Now obviously not all Muslims are terrorists but Islam encourages it’s followers to engage in Jihad to enforce Islamic law on non-believers. This is but one problematic aspect of the Islam. Remember it is 1400 years old we can look back and study it and how it has expressed itself through the centuries. People are delusional if they think it’s unrelated.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 6:09 PM CET

Joanna Motheroff-Angels

@Rami Haddad
“Should we blame the faith of Christianity whenever a Christian commits murder?”
Have you ever heard a Christian shouting ‘Jesus is great’ when committing a crime? I have heard Musulmans shouting “Allahu akbar’ while attacking innocent people with a knife. That is the difference!

edel .

I am not saying that a moderate opinion is always the best option, but pretty much vast majority of times is where the truth resides.

@florin, one can be in favor or against the welcoming of refugees/economic migrants to the EU but to blame Syrian atrocities of war (like any war lacks of these) on precisely those that refuse to participate in the war in any way and run away from it, it’s rather perplexing, to say the least,.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 6:16 PM CET

edel .

@Joanna Motheroff-Angels, you suffer from lack of cultural awareness. Those are phrases said by Muslims (and sometimes of other faces too) regardless of other major religious significance. Here in the US atheist constantly say too “oh my god” and in religion phobic France I hear all the time “adieu”.

In the mid 90s I personally saw tens of Croat tanks holding proudly St John Paul II’s posters in front while expelling hundreds of thousands of orthodox infidels from Krajina with their high catholic moral ground…

Religion, independent of denomination, is used by all sides equally when it serves a purpose well.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 6:33 PM CET

Iron Worker

I was wondering when Matthiew will start talking about this subject. It’s unprecedented, isn’t it? Ja, Ja…:)

Posted on 9/3/18 | 6:41 PM CET

Nuno A.

“Can Germany survive Islam?”

This is not about surviving Islam. It’s about surviving Russian promoted desestabilization. From Catalonia to Brexit, to European extremist parties, there’s always Putin’s finger on it. And he is winning this war.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 6:54 PM CET

EU doublestandards

@Hans Snood
“The statistic is misleading. The vast majority of the refugees are young men between 17 and 25 and comparing to their age group they commit the same number of homicides like Germans.”

I’m afraid it is you that does not understand statistics. If the overall immigrant ratio is 2%, and the number of 17-25 yr old immigrant commit the same number of homicides as the remaining 98% of native German 17-25 yr old, then that’s a hell of a statistical imbalance.

“And most of their victims are other refugees, not Germans.”
What does it matter who the victims are? Are native Germans supposed to feel safer because the murderers in their midst happen to kill each other more often than others?

Posted on 9/3/18 | 7:41 PM CET

Viliam Sinka

Hans Snood
“The vast majority of the refugees are young men between 17 and 25…” Are these healthy young men the most vulnerable or simply looking for adventure in Europe? What these young men think of Germans?

Posted on 9/3/18 | 7:58 PM CET

Geza K

Kandel, Chemnitz. Merkel how many years of jail get ??

Posted on 9/3/18 | 8:03 PM CET

maciek maciek

florin silberman
I had no time in Eastern Europe, I live in Central Europe and look at our modern times while remembering history.
It seems you do not want to remember the German and European history and you do not try to have a deeper look at the German and EUropean reality.

Islam is not a reason of German problems, it is only one of the results of German politicians’ decisions. And the reasons behind those decisions are ideology (marxism, cultural marxism) and capital (big business).
Marxists Merkel & co support German business, German business support Merkel’s policy of altering social and political structures of Germany and Europe against the will of Germans and EUropeans as this policy is profitable for big business.

Lenin and Stalin are long gone, but their marxist/communist followers are still around and as they can not pray to those universally compromised communist leaders, they pray to the other ones like Gramsci, Spinelli or Marx himself.
So join the reality of modern times. Marxism and communism are not over and they do pretty well in all too large and important parts of the current EU.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 9:13 PM CET

edel .

@Viliam Sinka, when a family decides to emigrate, due to the costs (for a Syrian it costs close to a two year salary so most cannot afford that), so they select a member to take the risk and assign that person the task to bring the rest whenever possible. That is an universal pattern. Only, the most affluent, or those with foreign assistance can migrate more than one family member. Young males are the most typical migrants due to inner drive, physical strength for the journey, safety and foreign language dominance.

What do you think the average Syrian thinks of Germans?
Most likely they don’t have much of opinion, they are more concern in how to get a position into Germany’s economy and be able to reunite with their families in a safe environment.

Some are religious, vast majority are not, but either group want to integrate. Of course, there are always a handful of bad apples (as there are always in a sizeable group like 700,000) to what another handful get added due to radicalization (usually after a visa denial but not always). In any case, does not represent even 0.0001% of bad apples, but hey, if you justify policies on what 0.0001% does, that is your thing.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 9:15 PM CET

GE0RG1 G10RG1

GE0RG1. . ITALY BANKS ARE LOSING DEPOSITS AND BUYING SOVEREIGN DEBT THAT MAY REACH 100 BN PER MONTH . FOR SOME 2- 400 BN LIQUID MONEY , FROM MAY BOND BUYING , WITHOUT TARGET 2 , LIQUIDITY ENDS IN 2 MONTHS. SOVEREIGN DEBT IS UNSUSTAINABLE SOON WHEN REFINANCED, LOSS 1 TRILLION FOR 1% YIELD INCREASE . SO ITALY IS TRYING TO CHEAT FOR LAST TIME ON FINANCIAL MARKETS

ITALY HAS 160% DEBT SO FAR THAT IS SURE CRASH FOR THEM. EUROZONE IS FALLING APART FOR TARGET 2. ITALY AND SPAIN DO NOT WANT TO RETURN 1 TRILLION FOR LEAVING ABROAD DEPOSIT REFINANCING . GERMANY DOES NOT AGREE TO PAY THE TRILLION IT PROVIDED, BUT INSTEAD EVERYONE SHOULD PAY IT AS ECB PRINT A TRILLION MONEY TO RETURN TO GERMANY. REQUIRE DEPOSIT RATIONING IN EU NOW AS LEAVING DEPOSITS FROM ITALY , SPAIN CAUSE TARGET 2 FROM GERMANY TO HIT 1 TRILLION . NOT YOU TO PAY FOR LEFT DEPOSITS WITH YOURS , WITH 160 % TO GDP DEBT , ITALY CANNOT EVEN GUARANTEE SMALL DEPOSITS. EU POLITICIANS SAY NO ONE IS PUNISHED LATELY IN US, EU. CHECK ANTOIN MURPHY HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT TO SEE IF SOME 30% OF FINANCIAL EU MINISTERS ARE PUNISHED WITH BIG HISTORY DATA. SEARCH WHO IS BEHIND POLITICIANS IN EU , USA. ASK MERKEL FOR CRASHES IN PUBLIC AND TRAINS THAT ARE CORRELATED WITH POLITICIANS LOSING TRUST IN DE , FR, SWISS AND PEG, AUSTRIA AND BAD DEBTS, EASTERN EUROPE AND DE INVESTMENTS. DOES DE , FR INFLUENCE IT, ES, GR , CEE POLITICIANS? MERKEL RUNS FROM RESPONSIBILITY FOR NOW AS THERE IS DEBT OF SOME 1 TRILLION DOLLARS AUSTRIA CANNOT SERVICE WELL INVESTED MAINLY IN CEE, ALSO SOME 1 TRILLIONS TARGET 2 GIVEN TO OTHER EU COUNTRIES TO SUBSTITUTE LEAVING DEPOSITS DIFFICULT TO COLLECT BACK , AS WELL AS GERMANY BANKS LOST A LOT OF DEPOSITS THAT THE NEXT GOVERNMENT HAS TO ADMIT TOGETHER WITH A LOT OF ILLEGALLY PRINTED MONEY BY ECB THAT LEAD TO HYPERINFLATION SPIRAL. WHY of banks and costs for refinancing leaving deposits will be paid by you. There are some trillion loss for some trillion deposits left and most Europeans realize such connection as the SCHAUBLE WENT IN THE PARLIAMENT FOR IMMUNITY? No one else will buy recklessly junk bonds to collect them with force so EU will fall apart without Merkel , so the circles behind her push her strongly to be premier to keep their share bubble and wealth and all others run away to support her or take responsibility of reckless investments and loans she is so confused and greedy that may expect even I to pay them. Check

Posted on 9/3/18 | 9:47 PM CET

GE0RG1 G10RG1

Target 2 data these days for last month as I describe, I suppose they may be cheated by ECB fear of happening deposit run. Deposits leaving EU banks , rationing is coming in EU. USA may steal them ,so diversify. See how EUR declines 20 % close to currency crisis 25 % and ECB bluffs with interventions these days. Catalonia banks move their headquarters and may very soon impose deposit rationing. Then all EU will expect deposit rationing for them and deposits will leave. Bundesbank’s TARGET2 claims increase a lot to some 0.91 trillions at end 2017 according to monthly updated by them website where you can also see time series as Germany should not be able to provide much more means for mainly Spain , Italy but also Portugal , Greece banks in trouble to cover for their non reversible process of leaving deposits you may find on line. There will be soon deposit rationing in EU as the ECB bluff for growth and election changes in France , Germany does not work. . . . Require deposit rationing from Draghi as his friends will try to take complete deposits out and the loss ey move deposits ..See low prices of banks in EU as proof for trillions of assets. Main loss is coming from bad loans in eastern Europe some of the greatest in the world and bad prospects for growth in EU due to high government debts and wage rigidities. Follow Austrian banks telecoms as EU tries to sell lemons first. Greek banks are bankrupted with assets in Eastern Europe , Austrian banks work in the same region and their banks and telecoms data may be cheated . Follow also for illegal activities as money washing Austrian banks and telecoms. Follow EBRD condition , competence and fund mismanagement as well as all funds that cover eu sovereign bonds. Yellena may steal EU deposits. Ask them until when they will endanger the health of my family for the facts I reveal that endangers their financial markets forever. My family was moderately poisoned these days to scare me not to write here. I DO NOT HAVE COPY RIGHTS SO DISTRIBUTE IN EU ON LINE EDITIONS CAREFULLY.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 9:48 PM CET

blue bell

@Rami Haddad
“This title is absolutely outrageous. To blame the faith of Islam for the crimes of the less than 0.1% of refugees in Germany is highly bigoted. Has Politico morphed into Breitbart? Should we blame the faith of Christianity whenever a Christian commits murder?”

@Rami
I do not think this is an attack on Islam nor even a religious issue particularly but rather it is about creating a sense of other within populations – the most horrific example in recent history being Rwanda. It is a technique which has been used countless times by those wanting to cause dissension.

Posted on 9/3/18 | 11:04 PM CET

florin silberman

@ edel,
You must have been away on vacation but it did not help rest your mind. Since you live in the US, I will tell you an Americanism: you didn’t get it.
“…trying to stop @maciek maciek’s obsession for anything left-of center….”
2xmaciek is from Eastern Europe. People from Eastern Europe have suffered a lot because of a German invasion, a Russian de facto occupation and and an educational system based on the principles of Marxism-Leninism.
But the war is over and Eastern Europe is free.
There is an old movie with Yves Montand called “La guerre est finie”. Spanish refugees that have run away from Franco continue to plot wanting to eliminate him and blow up Spain, maybe restart the Civil War.
I am telling macieck square that “la guerre est finie. War is over. Stalin is long gone and he is not under 2m ‘s bed. The NKVD (Russian secret police at the time) has other things to do. Nobody will wake him up at 3AM and take him to Siberia.There are other more pressing problems in Europe. People that carry a heavy luggage of 70 years old memories of oppression are expressing nostalgia in reverse.
“…anti-Islamic @florin silberman..” Wrong as long as a basic law of nature is observed. Every one has his own territory. Gazelles and tigers don’t live together. Stay where you are, live the life you want to live and observe your own religion. That is absolutely fine. But don’t come to my place and try to force your ways on me.
“…to blame Syrian atrocities of war (like any war lacks of these) on precisely those that refuse to participate in the war in any way and run away from it, it’s rather perplexing, to say the least,.
Of course you are perplexed. I never said that.
You didn’t get it again.
What I have said in the past is that those who run away are simply cowards. No excuse not to fight for what you believe. There are plenty of examples in the history of the world. Latin Americans stood firm and fought Spanish colonialism, India fought Britain, South African blacks fought apartheid, Russians fought the Germans, the French fought the monarchy. And (I know you will not like it) Angolans fought for their independence. All have won because they believed that their cause was just and they were willing to sacrifice their life for it. Only your dear friends run away.
.

Posted on 9/4/18 | 12:38 AM CET

Johann M. Wolff

@edel

Did you crack the German crime statistics ?

Your contribution is deeply insulting, you’re insinuating that I’m not aware what’s going on around me.
I have to disappoint you as I wont fit your stereotypical right-wing dude.

We are (“we” like all in our office except one) just very well aware whats going on around us, in schools, in the parks, workforce. And we just find it naive and stupid.
We are still democracies and nation states. We are not the USA nor we aim to became the USA.

Posted on 9/4/18 | 9:14 AM CET

e c

So this is German far right that created ISIS, sends terr0rists to EUrope and incites mus1im clerics to ha1e speech ?!?
Interesting theory.

But where will you find kindergarten children or mentally impaired to embrace it apart from the EUropean left of course ?

Posted on 9/4/18 | 11:07 AM CET

G B

Although the whole NAZI thing is a bit much. Islam isnt compatible with teh West and any other religious value system. It tries to conquer. Thats how it was designed. Just read teh Koran and youll see that. As much as I hate Trump he has a point in teh watch out for Islam/Muslim thing. They need to be teh minority in a country or they get violent and just take over. Look at Israel. Look at parts of downtown London. Look at your neighborhoods all over Europe that are being dominated/infested really with Muslims. Deny it all you want but when they have taken over and dominate your countries it will be to late or you will have a repeat of WWII Germany but all over Europe. Hopefully minus teh concentration camps, but massive deportation centers. You better believe it. Deny it all you want but that’s all these folks need to come in and take over and scream oppression every time you try and do anything to defend your cultures and your native populations. I repeat Islam is not compatible with Western values and you give thse folks a democratic voice in areas they dominate youll see teh nonsense you have in teh UK with Sharia courts and neighborhoods. If thats what you want welcome and enjoy. Want to call me a racist fine but Id rather be called that and defend my Western values than have to subordinate to a BS system that has no place in teh Western world and doesnt want to work with teh West or seriously attempt to integrate into it. Thats not racism folks. Its the reality you’re dealing with right now.

Posted on 9/4/18 | 5:10 PM CET

edel .

@florin silberman, I appreciate your long post trying to explain your position. However when you put statements like “Gazelles and tigers don’t live together”, “try to force your ways on me”, “those who run away are simply cowards”, etc do not only points out the ignorance on human development but simply put us in positions we’ll better direct our efforts elsewhere.

@Johann M. Wolff, criminology is a science better left for pros. Yes, blacks are criminalized disproportionally more than whites in the US, Romanians in the UK or are migrants in Germany (before them were Eastern Europeans and before that members of a particular Semitic group…). But that is not because some people are worse than others but due to a combination of factors like policing efforts, group disfranchising, poverty, and unrepresentative populations. It would be too exhaustive to explain 4 semesters of criminology in two paragraphs. But, what do you think when criminologists are overwhelmingly not the ones denouncing migrants? That are all bought by some big-industry like climatologists?

Let me tell you a personal story. My father has some tools in a shed and he twice learned some members of Romani stole some appreciated drill, saw and two hammers. He now completely despise them and puts a face everytime he sees a member of that community walking in the street. Meanwhile, in the last decade he has lost tens of thousands of euros due to a systematic fraudulent bank operation and continuously politicians mishandle funds left an right that he pays on taxes amounting hundreds if not thousands more than what the poor Romani people ever did to him. But he does not frown when he sees fellow neighbors, or to a guy in a suit… they are just normal and he has no problem distinguishing that only a small portion are bad apples. Romani are not given that privilege, they are just… well too different.

Let me tell you other thing here in the US; Downtown a see tens of police units daily checking for drug possession downtown (one of those cities extremely impoverished) and many consumers of crack end up in jail/prison… sometimes for life (three strikes laws). However, I have never, ever seen the police stopping people on Wall Street and checking for drug usage there. There is an epidemic of opioid abuse now in the US and affecting disproportionally whites, but guess, just take a wild guess who are the ones ending up in newspapers, movies and the prison system; migrants and blacks? At the end we get disproportionate arrests numbers of a group versus other simply because there is where we are directing our efforts, further increasing disfranchisement and feeding the vicious circle.

Posted on 9/4/18 | 5:27 PM CET

Walter E. Kurtz

@edel – why, why why do you waste so much time talking about things you have no idea about?

Posted on 9/4/18 | 10:53 PM CET

florin silberman

@ edel,
As you said about 3 weeks ago, you are in upper management in some outsourcing capacity for software, etc.
Is that how you learned to talk about a subject without being specific and without having any arguments to explain your position?
“….not only points out the ignorance on human development but simply put us in positions we’ll better direct our efforts elsewhere….”
Is this how you carry out your profession? Telling people that they are ignorant and not worth “our” time (I noticed your royal plural ….”we” direct our efforts) .
Not very convincing or mature. I still would like to hear to justification of your position.
When teenagers quarrel it always ends up with: You are stu- ppid. I will not spend time talking to you.

Posted on 9/5/18 | 12:12 AM CET

edel .

Impressive! @florin silberman. That was far more than 3 weeks ago (at that time I was off the grid) and the software part is also wrong but impressive nonetheless… and pleased.
However, you and @Walter E. Kurtz, in spite have plenty of material to refute one by one, you decide to attack instead me. That is very surprising. I don’t hold a degree in criminology but criminologists are quite in agreement regarding the rise of crime due to migration. In the late 90s I used to attend a few conferences of ASA (American Sociological Association that I used to be a member of) and remember even then speakers on that matter. No a part of that since then but little has changed for what I read.

However, you both are right in one thing, groups of migrants are a source for new problems! Many well-meaning people do little good by disregarding the challenges that large groups of migrants bring to a society. These newcomers usually displace local groups and, like all button-end jobs, they tend to take these jobs and make them very distinct. Now, again, these groups, like previous local criminal people, can be addressed with smart policing. In any case, in the long run, migrants always are beneficial for the society overall and it is very hard to find a case where that was no the case. Let’s leave this topics for professionals and not your opportunistic tabloids you seem to devour.

Posted on 9/5/18 | 12:40 AM CET

florin silberman

@ edel,
When I was a young student I got interested in mathematical logic. But I could never write an “edel equation” to explain the logic and arguments being used.
Better use a French word “girouette” meaning weather vane, for turning things in all directions with the lightest wind stream.
And I am still trying to figure out what you had in mind when you said (your remark to Mr. Wolff): “….before that members of a particular Semitic group. Care to explain???

Posted on 9/5/18 | 3:55 AM CET

Johann M. Wolff

@edel

How on earth can migrants targeted more by police in case of murders ? That’s taken quite seriously over here.
Oki, so lets shred crime statistics, my experiences on the streets and I will take your words for granted. Makes sense.

Now let me tell you about my personal experiences in the US when I was a student there (for a few months). I had issues 2 times, and with both occasions with African Americas: 1. cycling home around 10 pm, about 8-10 African-American teenagers were sitting on a fence. Suddenly they jumped up without any reason and run after me, throwing rocks. Seems banal, but it was frightening as never happened something like this with me in Germany. 2. with another exchange student, a gay Filipino guy, we went to Papa John’s to grab some pizza. A group of African Americans are laughing loudly, calling him by names. When my colleague asked them what is their issue, he got hit by two of them, he fell down bleeding.

Anecdotes ? No, personal experiences from which we learn, its an evolutive mechanism which helps us to cope in this world.

Posted on 9/5/18 | 8:32 AM CET

edel .

Just letting you know I read the replies. Thanks.

I would try no to make policies out of personal experiences, but noted. Again, to make policies that severely affect hundreds of thousands because of the actions of a handful of dozen people is bad policy. In any case, that is independent of migrant rates accepted into a country, that is a completely independent debate.

On the murder rate, yes, migrants from extremely impoverished areas, specially wars, usually bring more murder rates, that is a fact. However murder is just one form of crime though, many other types of crimes are committed disproportionally more by locals instead (corruption, embezzlement, manslaughter…), why are we disregarding those to focus on one type all of the sudden? In many ways, these causes more indirect deaths than even plain murder?
Think of this, doctors in white coats are far more responsible of opioid epidemic deaths in the US than the guys selling drugs in black market in the streets; guess where the overwhelming majority policing resources and prison cells are being dedicated to address drug abuse though.

Posted on 9/5/18 | 5:18 PM CET

edel .

aH… and you talk about “evolutive mechanism”. Well, that is a good primary mechanism of defense, but what makes us special is when we go way beyond that. Our natural instinct is to be with our families and interact less with others… how we build civilizations and progress is by defying speed, gravity , borders, dangers and challenges. Are there risks and sacrifices? Plenty, but we all end up better off in the long term.

Posted on 9/5/18 | 5:36 PM CET

florin silberman

@ edel,
“…defying speed, gravity , borders, dangers and challenges. Are there risks and sacrifices? Plenty, but we all end up better off in the long term….”
REALLY???? so why can’t the Syrians defy the dictatorial regime in their country and fight to create a decent and free homeland but prefer instead to come to take advantage of welfare in Europe??
As I mentioned above: No excuse not to fight for what you believe. There are plenty of examples in the history of the world. Latin Americans stood firm and fought Spanish colonialism, India fought Britain, South African blacks fought apartheid, Russians fought the Germans, the French fought the monarchy.
So where are the poor Syrian migrants?
As the saying goes: help yourself and the sky will help you.

Posted on 9/5/18 | 10:26 PM CET

Narayan Kumar

@ Rami
A Muslim commits an act of terror in the name of Islam and Allah. He commits the crime in the name of waging jihad against infidels. He commits the crime because of intolerance towards other faiths. This happens to be the common denominator from Philippines to US.

Posted on 9/6/18 | 6:50 AM CET

Alana Johnson

Still trying to figure out why so many politicians are so pro open borders and such dhimmi slaves/appeasers to is1am. The ideology is so tota1itarian and fasc1st it actually has a lot in common with naz1sm which no one tolerates. Just calling itself a religion gives it a free pass?

Is1amic influence has always been spread first by deceit when their numbers are low and then by the sword when there’s enough of them. It won’t be any different in the takeover of western countries if their numbers get high enough.

Historically this mindvirus has killed far more than naz1sm and possibly even more than socialism/communism with estimates around 250 million over the centuries since it spread like a disease out the ME.

Just Saudi money (research their funding of safa1st mosques in Germany) and the fear of being called names is enough for western politicians to sell out their citizens to a totalitarian ideology that goes against virtually everything they say they stand for?

Posted on 9/6/18 | 2:10 PM CET

e c

@Alana Johnson
It is not so much about Is1am as about destroying European culture.
Check out: Cultural Marxism.

According to Cultural Marxism European culture is the source of oppression and inequality and has to be destroyed, after which marxists will enjoy totalitarian power over European societies.
Mus1ims, LGBT persons, etc. are just tools to carry out this project, just like proletariat was a tool for 19/20th century marxists to make revolution, build repression apparatus and grasp power.
But just check what happened to working class in USSR where marxist revolution won.
Workers became slaves, were persecuted, murdered by millions, etc. and their position became much worse than in the West where due to advances of technology it improved a lot.
So Mus1ims, LGBT persons future in this marxist project is probably the same as working class’ fortune in the USSR.

And in fact marxists are much worse than naz1s.
Just check how many more people marxists murdered, tortured, persecuted over the world than naz1s, and how many more countries they destroyed.

Posted on 9/9/18 | 1:09 PM CET

Maximus Caesar

When will Merkel admit that allowing mass migration from culturally incompatible countries was a ghastly mistake?